It is possible that the representation of a triple Hecate surrounding a central pillar was originally derived from poles set up at three-way crossroads with masks hung on them, facing in each road direction. [2] https://arce.org/resource/statues-sekhmet-mistress-dread/#:~:text=A%20mother%20goddess%20in%20the,as%20a%20lion%2Dheaded%20woman. She is believed to have caused plagues. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. The ancient text is corrupted; an alternative correction of the name into 'Phoebus' (that is, Apollo) has been also suggested. However, Sekhmet is forgotten. For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favor according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. The dog was Hecate's regular sacrificial animal, and was often eaten in solemn sacrament. From whom we do exist and cease to be, The symbol is a representation of the changing phases of the moon which also correspond with . The concept of Athirat, Anat and Ashtart as a trinity and the only prominent goddesses in the entire region (popularized by authors like Tikva Frymer-Kensky) is modern and ignores the large role of other female deities, for example Shapash, in known texts, as well as the fact El appears to be the deity most closely linked to Athirat in primary Diana (mythology) - Wikipedia Sekhmet is a powerful and unique therianthropic (part-animal, part human-like) mother goddess from ancient Egypt. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. [28], Hecate's cult became established in Athens about 430 BCE. [14] This has been suggested in comparison with the attributes of the goddess Artemis, strongly associated with Apollo and frequently equated with Hecate in the classical world. Some of the significant ones are listed below: 1. Mooney, Carol M., "Hekate: Her Role and Character in Greek Literature from before the Fifth Century B.C." Worship For example, "willing" (thus, "she who works her will" or similar), may be related to the name Hecate. This narrative is often cited to explain her epithet as Protector of Maat. Sekhmets bloodlust is so out of hands that, according to narratives inscribed in the royal tombs at Thebes, Ra ordered his priests at Heliopolis to obtain red ochre from Elephantine and grind it with beer mash. [125], In the Argonautica, a 3rd-century BCE Alexandrian epic based on early material,[129] Jason placates Hecate in a ritual prescribed by Medea, her priestess: bathed at midnight in a stream of flowing water, and dressed in dark robes, Jason is to dig a round pit and over it cut the throat of a ewe, sacrificing it and then burning it whole on a pyre next to the pit as a holocaust. Sekhmet represented the Lower Nile region (north Egypt). He also symbolized death, resurrection, and the cycle of Nile floods that Egypt relied on for agricultural fertility. "[49], The goddess is described as wearing oak in fragments of Sophocles' lost play The Root Diggers (or The Root Cutters), and an ancient commentary on Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica (3.1214) describes her as having a head surrounded by serpents, twining through branches of oak.[50]. Hekate: Her Role and Character in Greek Literature from before the Fifth Century B.C. Supporters of this etymology suggest that Hecate was originally considered an aspect of Artemis prior to the latter's adoption into the Olympian pantheon. It is presumed that the latter were named after the tree because of its superiority for both bows and poison. During the New Kingdom (18th and 19th dynasty), when Memphis was the capital of the Egyptian empire; Ra, Sekhmet, and Nefertum were known as the Memphite Triad. Isis, Egyptian Aset or Eset, one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. In a middle kingdom treatise, the wrath of the pharaoh toward rebels is compared to the rage of Sekhmet. However, there is indeed a definitive Egyptian frog deity in the form of Goddess Heqet. [7] A connection with Ptah or Ra evident in her epithets is also known from Egyptian texts about Anat and Astarte. The Triple Goddess - The Bridging Tree [45] Lions are associated with Hecate in early artwork from Asia Minor, as well as later coins and literature, including the Chaldean Oracles. An inscription on the statue is a dedication to Hecate, in writing of the style of the 6th century, but it otherwise lacks any other symbols typically associated with the goddess. Well, then it is time to take a look at Sekhmet the Egyptian goddess of fire, hunting, wild animals, death, war, violence, retribution, justice, magic, heaven and hell, plague, chaos, the desert/mid-day sun, and medicine and healing Egypts most peculiar goddess. In the Amarna period, Amenhoteps name was systematically erased from inscriptions of the thrones, then methodically re-inscribed at the end of the 18th dynasty.[2]. The one who loves Maat and who detests evil. Thinking that it is the blood of her enemies, Sekhmet drinks it up, gets intoxicated, and sleeps. [7] In the post-Christian writings of the Chaldean Oracles (2nd3rd century CE) she was also regarded with (some) rulership over earth, sea, and sky, as well as a more universal role as Savior (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul. In addition, we particularly recommend The Book of Goddesses and Heroines. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death [140], In the earliest written source mentioning Hecate, Hesiod emphasized that she was an only child, the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the sister of Leto (the mother of Artemis and Apollo). The goddess is carved with a Uraeus raising at her forehead, holding a papyrus scepter (the symbol of lower / north Egypt), and an ankh (giver of fertility and life through the annual flooding of the Nile). Uraeus - Wikipedia Mistress of Dread: She nearly destroyed human civilization and had to be drugged to sleep. The Triple Goddess is arguably the most important deity in the vast majority of Pagan and Wiccan pantheons. The possibility of not to be, of returning to nothingness, distinguishes Egyptian gods and goddesses from deities of all other pagan pantheons.[1]. She became merely an aspect of Mut, Hathor, and Isis. [82] Likewise, shrines to Hecate at three way crossroads were created where food offerings were left at the new Moon to protect those who did so from spirits and other evils. Most display systematic mutilations of specific parts, especially the head and arms. Enodia's very name ("In-the-Road") suggests that she watched over entrances, for it expresses both the possibility that she stood on the main road into a city, keeping an eye on all who entered, and in the road in front of private houses, protecting their inhabitants. From the abundant number of amulets and sculptures of Sekhmet discovered at various archaeological sites, it is evident that the goddess was popular and highly important. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition. They have a son named Nefertem. [141][142] In various later accounts, Hecate was given different parents. Though Alcamenes' original statue is lost, hundreds of copies exist, and the general motif of a triple Hecate situated around a central pole or column, known as a hekataion, was used both at crossroads shrines as well as at the entrances to temples and private homes. [75] In one version of Hecate's parentage, she is the daughter of Perses not the son of Crius but the son of Helios, whose mother is the Oceanid Perse. The Deipnon consists of three main parts: 1) the meal that was set out at a crossroads, usually in a shrine outside the entryway to the home[106] 2) an expiation sacrifice,[107] and 3) purification of the household.[108]. Sekhmet: Egypt's Forgotten Esoteric Goddess | History Cooperative Each aspect within the Triple Goddess is . Though such gifts varied in value and substance, it is nevertheless clear that the kings, chiefs, and Ollam of the Tuatha D Danann all drew their power . In the Michigan magical papyrus (inv. Because of this association, Hecate was one of the chief goddesses of the Eleusinian Mysteries, alongside Demeter and Persephone,[1] and there was a temple dedicated to her near the main sanctuary at Eleusis. Pagan Symbols and Their Meanings - Exemplore Sekhmet is believed to have 4000 names that described her many attributes. [150], As a virgin goddess, she remained unmarried and had no regular consort, though some traditions named her as the mother of Scylla[151] through either Phorbas[152][f] or Phorcys.[153]. On the night of the new moon, a meal would be set outside, in a small shrine to Hecate by the front door; as the street in front of the house and the doorway create a crossroads, known to be a place Hecate dwelled. This one is of stone, while the bronze images opposite, also of Hecate, were made respectively by Polykleitos and his brother Naukydes.[87]. Lady of Life: Spells exist that regard plagues as brought by the messengers of Sekhmet. In the 1st century CE, Virgil described the entrance to hell as "Hecate's Grove", though he says that Hecate is equally "powerful in Heaven and Hell." The Triple Goddess: Symbol & Meaning of the Maiden, Mother, Crone For understanding of the Triple Goddess, the Moon Goddess, and other common themes . [28], By the 5th century BCE, Hecate had come to be strongly associated with ghosts, possibly due to conflation with the Thessalian goddess Enodia (meaning "traveller"), who travelled the earth with a retinue of ghosts and was depicted on coinage wearing a leafy crown and holding torches, iconography strongly associated with Hecate. Eg: in the battle of Kadesh, she is visualized on the horses of Ramesses II, her flames scorching the bodies of enemy soldiers. 10. At this time, the sculptor Alcamenes made the earliest known triple-formed Hecate statue for use at her new temple. [e], As Hecate Phosphorus (the 'star' Venus) she is said to have lit the sky during the Siege of PhilipII in 340BCE, revealing the attack to its inhabitants. [47], Comparative mythologist Alexander Haggerty Krappe cited that Hecate was also named (hippeutria 'the equestrienne'), since the horse was "the chthonic animal par excellence". Egyptian Triple Goddess Viewed as the Egyptian triple goddess, Isis is considered a steadfast symbol of fertility, magic, and motherhood. So, then, albeit her mother's only child, she is honored amongst all the deathless gods. She protected the pharaohs and led them to war. Great honor comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favorably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her. In the Old Kingdom, the priests of Sekhmet are an organized phyle and from a slightly later date, in its extant copy, the Ebers papyrus attributes to these priests a detailed knowledge of the heart. Triple goddess - General Discussion - The Spells8 Forum [67] Another work connecting Hecate to Helios possibly as a moon goddess is Sophocles' lost play The Root Cutters, where Helios is described as Hecate's spear: O Sun our lord and sacred fire, the spear of Hecate of the [53], A number of other plants (often poisonous, medicinal and/or psychoactive) are associated with Hecate. There is no standard version of the Egyptian pantheon. You find her in the labyrinthine places of Minoan Crete. He also performs other secret rites [of Hecate] at four pits, taming the fierceness of the blasts [of the winds], and he is said to chant as well the charms of Medea. Once, Hermes chased Hecate (or Persephone) with the aim to rape her; but the goddess snored or roared in anger, frightening him off so that he desisted, hence her earning the name "Brimo" ("angry"). The yew was associated with the alphabet and the scientific name for yew today, taxus, was probably derived from the Greek word for yew, toxos, which is hauntingly similar to toxon, their word for bow and toxicon, their word for poison. [66] Nevertheless, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter shows Helios and Hecate informing Demeter of Persephone's abduction, a common theme found in many parts of the world where the Sun and the Moon are questioned concerning events that happen on earth based on their ability to witness everything[66] and implies Hecate's capacity as a moon goddess in the hymn. The Byzantines dedicated a statue to her as the "lamp carrier". [citation needed], The spelling Hecat is due to Arthur Golding's 1567 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses,[24] and this spelling without the final E later appears in plays of the Elizabethan-Jacobean period. An important sanctuary of Hecate was a holy cave on the island of Samothrake called Zerynthos: In Samothrake there were certain initiation-rites, which they supposed efficacious as a charm against certain dangers. Kek and Heqet: Egyptian Frog Gods Who Inspired A Meme - Realm of History Her approach was heralded by the howling of a dog. [citation needed], One surviving group of stories[clarification needed] suggests how Hecate might have come to be incorporated into the Greek pantheon without affecting the privileged position of Artemis. He is told to sweeten the offering with a libation of honey, then to retreat from the site without looking back, even if he hears the sound of footsteps or barking dogs. Medusa came to Greece from Libya as the Serpent Goddess, and the destroyer aspect of the Great Triple Goddess. Rohde, i. [15] Though often considered the most likely Greek origin of the name, the theory does not account for her worship in Asia Minor, where her association with Artemis seems to have been a late development, and the competing theories that the attribution of darker aspects and magic to Hecate were themselves not originally part of her cult. She seems to have been born in the Delta region, a place where lions were rarely seen. The Athenian Greeks honoured Hecate during the Deipnon. Berg 1974, p. 128: Berg comments on Hecate's endorsement of Roman hegemony in her representation on the pediment at Lagina solemnising a pact between a warrior (Rome) and an. "[34] The sacrifice of dogs to Hecate is attested for Thrace, Samothrace, Colophon, and Athens. In two fragments of Aeschylus she appears as a great goddess. [58], It was probably her role as guardian of entrances that led to Hecate's identification by the mid fifth century with Enodia, a Thessalian goddess. Asherah - Wikipedia [Diviners] spin this sphere and make invocations. Goddess of: creation, war, rivers, the cosmos, mothers, childbirth, rivers, and hunting Consort: Set, Khnum Children: Sobek, Re, Tutu, Serket, Apep Association: Isis, Hathor, Mehturt (Mehet-Weret) Symbol: Spider, loom, Deshret (Red Crown of Lower Egypt), ankh symbol, bow and crossed arrows In Greek, deipnon means the evening meal, usually the largest meal of the day. Her name was likely developed by the Egyptians based on the Semitic root Q-D- meaning 'holy' or 'blessed,'[2] attested as a title of El and possibly Athirat and a further independent deity in texts from Ugarit. The Greek Magical Papyri describe Hecate as the holder of the keys to Tartaros. Qetesh is the name given to the Goa'uld that once possessed Vala Mal Doran, a recurring and then regular character in Seasons 9 and 10, respectively of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. Aside from her own temples, Hecate was also worshipped in the sanctuaries of other gods, where she was apparently sometimes given her own space. The eye of Horus [78] Fowler also noted that the pairing (i. e. Helios and Perse) made sense given Hecates association with the Moon. In other representations, her animal heads include those of a cow and a boar. Dated to the 7th century BCE, this is one of the oldest known artefacts dedicated to the worship of Hecate. He noted that the cult regularly practiced dog sacrifice and had secretly buried the body of one of its "queens" with seven dogs. Looking at Egypt, Isis is the only deity that one can conceive of as being esoteric because she brought back her husband from the dead. The lion-headed goddess Sekhmet is the most represented deity in most Egyptian collections worldwide. Fragmentary Egyptian literary sources spread across thousands of years make reconstructing a unitary, comprehensive narrative difficult. She was a warrior goddess. The crone symbolizes elderly women and the wisdom which comes with aging. [84] The maiden represents young women, full of potential and life, while the mother symbolizes a fully mature woman. [10][11], Early researchers attempted to prove Qetesh was simply a form of a known Canaanite deity, rather than a fully independent goddess. It is difficult to distinguish Sekhmet from other feline goddesses, especially Bastet. As a goddess of sovereignty and power, Danu would grant gifts to rulers and those of noble birth. Principally the Ethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis. Sekhmets uncontrolled bloodlust, aggression, and domain over divine retribution, life, and death reminds one of the Hindu goddess Kali. The left side of the symbol features a waxing moon, the center features a full moon, while the right side depicts a waning moon. The oldest known direct evidence of Hecate's cult comes from Selinunte (near modern-day Trapani in Sicily), where she had a temple in the 6th5th centuries BCE. She travelled a long way, and a long time, from further south in Africa. Sekhmet is not even a primordial deity like Chaos, Ananke, or a creator deity like God from the Bible, and yet she has dominion over almost all aspects of human existence. The gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt were an integral part of the people's everyday lives for over 3,000 years.
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